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maralyne 's review for:
Children of Memory
by Adrian Tchaikovsky
dark
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Children of Memory continues the series by asking "What is sentience?" and "What is humanity?". The alien parasite from Nod has become a fully realized character, and its journey towards acceptance and self-definition is central to this book. There is also another uplifted animal species from Earth, whose views on sentience, intelligence, and survival are refreshingly distinct from the Portiids or Octopi. However their development is not the focus of this novel, which is a departure from the structure of Children of Time and Children of Ruin. Instead, Children of Memory goes in a different direction, circling back to humanity and circling forwards to AI and virtual minds.
The novel also keeps the then-now structure from the previous novels, but with a recursive twist. The style does feel necessary for conveying the themes the story explores, but it also feels redundant or overly repetitive at times, which is the only reason that I'm giving this book 4 instead of 5 stars.
Outside of my gripes on the repetitiveness, I was enthralled by the story and found its conclusion to be the best kind of bittersweet. The threads of despair throughout the story find a glimmer of hope in a way that feels well fought for. The writing did a great job in making me understand the alien and non-human perspectives, while also keeping them distinct.
Overall, I loved reading this book.
The novel also keeps the then-now structure from the previous novels, but with a recursive twist. The style does feel necessary for conveying the themes the story explores, but it also feels redundant or overly repetitive at times, which is the only reason that I'm giving this book 4 instead of 5 stars.
Outside of my gripes on the repetitiveness, I was enthralled by the story and found its conclusion to be the best kind of bittersweet. The threads of despair throughout the story find a glimmer of hope in a way that feels well fought for. The writing did a great job in making me understand the alien and non-human perspectives, while also keeping them distinct.
Overall, I loved reading this book.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Abandonment
Minor: Body horror, Bullying, Death, Hate crime, Violence, Colonisation